Liverpool World Museum Challenges 14,29,48,67,94

After a great morning at the pirate festival, Sophia and I decided to explore some more of Liverpool and I noticed a poster for the dinosaur exhibit at Liverpool World Museum - with challenge 48 firmly in mind we set off to see what delights the museum had on offer.

It was AWESOME! Sophia loved the exhibits, and there were so many varied displays - we saw insects and animals, time and space, ancient Egypt and dinosaurs! I'd thoroughly recommend it - especially because it was free!
The museum was a literal treasure trove for completing challenges and I managed to finish another 5 - bringing my total to 9 in one day!

Challenge 14 "Picture of an Insect"

Although they have been collected for display - I still think these butterflies are beautiful and this is probably better than me taking a picture of a woodlouse in the garden!

Challenge 29 "Find the Oldest Thing"

I think I'd struggle to find anything older than ancient Egypt! - There were so many fascinating items on display but as I've always loved the Egyptian gods since visiting as a child, these amulets of Horus from 332BC are ideal









Challenge 48 "Find a Dinosaur"

Thanks to the awesome display taking up a full floor of the museum I was spoilt for choice with this one. I loved the skeletons rather than the recreations though as they felt more "dinosaury" lol







Challenge 67 "Best Dog/Cat Pic"

Although this is quite a weird one, I just found this mummified cat fascinating.















Challenge 94 "Find the Shiniest Rock / Fossil"

This is a massive ammonite fossil - and I thought it was great as Beth often spoke about collecting these. I even bought my own little fossil from the gift shop as a memento

Liverpool Pirate Festival Challenge 15,88,97 & 99

Just as Beth left for Tokyo, I heard about the Liverpool Pirate Festival at Albert Docks and thought not only would this be a great day out for Sophia, but also a chance to complete a couple of challenges - and boy was I not wrong! The festival itself was lots of fun, Sophia got dressed up as a pirate, we saw mermaids, pirates, jugglers and all sorts of displays. Sophia was very excited when she got to go aboard a real pirate ship and have a sword fight with the Captain. There was a fair and Sophia had a ride on the carousel, we had ice cream and chocolate and all this was only the first half of the day! However in this brief visit I managed to complete 4 challenges!

Challenge 15 "Best Mascot Picture!"

I love this photo as its not just a cool mascot, it's a bright yellow kangaroo pirate! Can't get much better than that :)

Challenge 88 "Go to a Fair/Theme Park"

Now I know this is only a really small fair but it counts! I'm hoping I can get to a "proper" theme park at some point but for now this challenge is done!

Challenge 97 "Get on a Boat"

Once again this feels like a bit of a cheat as the boat didn't actually move, but I was definitely on a boat so it counts















Challenge 99 "Go to a Festival"

This one is kind of a given as it was the Liverpool Pirate Festival :)

The Challenge - an introduction

So Hello!
Welcome to this new blog set up as part of (and being used as a introduction to) a set of exciting/interesting and weird challenges devised by me (James) and my amazing fiancée (Beth)

In September 2017 Beth set off for a 6 month study placement at Toyo University in Tokyo Japan, An I'm left here in good old England. As a way of keeping in touch, and as something fun for us both to do while she's away, we came on the idea of setting each other these challenges. And so, after a lovely weekend away sat in a park in Manchester, we sat down to write the list together - some silly, some serious, some easy some pretty tricky - all designed to get us both to enjoy our time apart more and also bring us closer together.

Here's the list of challenges:

1. Find A Geocache
2. Eat Something Weird
3. Buy The Coolest Badge
4. Best Graffiti/Street Art
5. Coolest Art/Statue
6. Replicate A Statue
7. Get Involved
8. I Need A Hero - Do Something Heroic
9. #Instagram# - Take Some Basic Photos
10. Go To Different Country
11. Spell Countries Name In Coolest Way
12. Best Hat
13. Best Vandal Eyes - Put The Coolest Googly Eyes On Something
14. Picture Of An Insect
15. Best Mascot Picture
16. Coolest Freebie
17. Make Your Flag - Coolest Medium
18. Climb A Tree
19. Weirdest Antique/Gadget
20. Best Thrift Shop Purchase
21. Riddle Treasure Hunt
22. Best Postcard
23. Coolest Stamp
24. Get An Autograph
25. Stay In A Hotel/Hostel
26. Picture On The Most Modes Of Transport
27. Wield A Sword
28. Play Dnd
29. Oldest Thing
30. Picture Of Stars
31. Send A Message
32. See Fireworks
33. Give A Gift
34. Best Doppleganger
35. Coolest Notebook
36. Best Cloud Pic
37. Fit In The Smallest Space
38. Watch A Movie
39. Find A Cool Nerdy Place
40. Best Photo Of A Grape
41. Find An Australian
42. Best Bridge
43. Coolest Texture
44. Best Street Food
45. Best Vending Machine Purchase
46. Win Something In An Arcade
47. Find A Weird Inflatable
48. Find A Dinosaur
49. Weirdest Poster/Flier
50. Grow Something
51. Best Halloween Costume
52. Best Christmas Tree
53. Pic Of Something You Don’t Understand
54. Find Something For The Wedding
55. Coolest Origami
56. Sit On/In The Best Thing
57. Buy Ava/Soph The Coolest Thing
58. Coolest Packaging
59. Pic Of A Robot
60. Pic Of A Wild Animal
61. Sunset/Sunrise Pic
62. Go To A Wood/Forrest
63. Find Snow
64. Find A Dungeon
65. Find A Dragon
66. Best Plush
67. Best Dog/Cat Pic
68. Best Lego Sculpture
69. Crudest Thing
70. Pretentious Photo
71. Scary Photo
72. Coolest Socks
73. Sex Toys
74. Get A Tattoo
75. Fight A Monster
76. Make A Short Film
77. Best Photo Taken By Someone Else
78. Best Photo Of Someone Else
79. Coolest Building
80. 5 Random Pics Of Anything
81. Fire An Arrow
82. Alphabet Photos
83. Read A Book About The Country
84. Write A Blog
85. Write A Poem
86. Make Some Money
87. Get Dirty
88. Go To A Fair/Theme Park
89. Go Camping
90. Catch A Fish
91. Build A Fort
92. Best Mini Golf
93. Get Caught In The Rain
94. Find The Shiniest Rock/Fossil
95. Visit A Movie/Tv Set
96. Impossible Pose – Holding Up A Monument Etc.
97. Get On A Boat
98. Go To A Gig
99. Go To A Festival
100. Pose With A Bear
101. Make A New Friend
102. Get As High As You Can
103. Going Underground
104. Buy Something Cool For A Dollar
105. Cook Something Traditional
106. Dress A Member Of The Other Country
107. Make Something For Each Other
108. Get Wet
109. Go To A Beach
110. Go To A Performance
111. Mark Something
112. Learn A New Skill
113. Sketch Something Outside
114. Go On A Picnic

As you can see there's a massive and wide variety of challenges - and for each one we would have to take a photo/memento to show the other how we'd completed it. When Beth came back from Tokyo we would then get together, go through all the photos and have amazing stories, memories and mementos of our time - coming together despite the distance.

Unfortunately, as with most things, life doesn't work out how we plan. Beth and I have since separated and the reason for completing these challenges is now over. However - I've really enjoyed having the motivation to try and do something new, to push my self to go out, embrace new things and discover new opportunities. As such I am going to complete this list as a cathartic, personal farewell to my relationship. I love Beth, I always will and I wish her the best. I hope one day she can read this and smile fondly about some of the memories we've shared along the way. I know I will :)

Well with the first post written, the challenges introduced and everything all ready it's time to complete the remaining 113 challenges, as that's Challenge 84 "Write a Blog" done :)

wish me luck!